The arrival of Kevin Keegan as Chief Operating Officer and Ray Wilkins as Team Manager in September 1997 brought the sort of glamour and media interest to the banks of the Thames that had not been seen since the days of Bobby Moore, George Best and Rodney Marsh.
Their experience was backed up by a chequebook unprecedented in Fulham's history and exceptional by the standards of the Second Division.
Money was spent, transfer records broken and by May 1998, the team was unrecognisable from the side which had won promotion just 12 months earlier.
Clearly, the spending made a difference to the results, but not quite enough.
By the time the team started to garner points, Watford and Bristol City had built up a commanding lead at the top, and for the rest it was a battle for the Play-Offs.
Fulham made it, but only just, and then lost out to Grimsby Town, with Wilkins departing days before the First Leg as Keegan took over at the helm.
He returned to the Club more than 15 years later to assist René Meulensteen, but departed when the Dutchman was relived of his duties just two months later.
A true gentleman of the game, the football world mourned his death after a cardiac arrest at the age of 61 in April 2018.
